GREENSBORO, N.C. – The defending national champion in the outdoor 5000m, Dartmouth junior Abbey D'Agostino took one step closer to repeating the feat on Saturday night as she advanced at the final day of competition at the 2013 NCAA East Regional.

Running in the national semifinals at North Carolina A&T's Irwin Belk Track inside Aggie Stadium, D’Agostino moved on to Eugene, Ore., in two weeks for the national championship meet with a first-place finish in her heat 16:05.21, nearly six seconds ahead of the second-place runner. Her time was good for sixth overall in both heats.

The first Big Green woman ever to win an individual national title in any event and the only Ivy League woman ever to win a distance event crown, D’Agostino won the 5000m last June in Des Moines at the 2012 championship meet. She followed that with titles in the 3000m and 5000m during this past indoor season at Arkansas, becoming the first American woman ever to win the two events in a career, let alone one weekend during the same championship meet.

D’Agostino ran a 16:15.35 to win her heat by more than seven seconds at the University of North Florida's Hodges Stadium at the 2012 East Regional, automatically qualifying for the national championship meet in Iowa as she won her heat and finished fifth overall.

Now, the junior from Topsfield, Mass., will head to Oregon and historic Hayward Field in for the 2013 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship. The finals of the 5000m will take place on Friday, June 7 at 9:15 p.m. ET (6:15 p.m. PT).